Romania will meet the technical requirements for gas exports to Hungary in 2020, according to an agreement signed by the foreign ministers of two countries on Monday, Peter Szijarto and Teodor Melescan, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported, according to Romanian Agerpres.

Szijarto says that in 2022 larger quantities of gas from the Black Sea must be delivered to Hungary. He added that Hungarian companies have already booked a total capacity of 4.4 billion cubic meters a year, on the pipeline connecting Romania with Hungary.

“This is the first opportunity in the last few decades that Hungary can buy large quantities of natural gas from sources outside Russia,” Szijarto said, adding that this agreement represents a historic step towards ensuring energy security in Hungary.

The Romanian side agreed to build compressor stations that will allow the delivery of 1.75 billion cubic meters of gas in 2020. This capacity will increase to 4.4 billion cubic meters in 2022.

“The Hungarian government has decided to build the missing section of the pipeline from the central distribution hub Varosfold and Vecses, near Budapest, which interrupts the pipeline between Slovakia and Hungary. With this line, the north-south gas corridor, a key facility for energy security in Central Europe, will be completed,” Szijarto said.

The gas export will be carried out via the Arad-Szeged gas pipeline, which allows interconnection of the gas transmission system in Romania with the Hungarian system. The pipeline was opened in 2010 and the current gas is coming to Romania, but not in the opposite direction.